The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-02-25
OKEFENOkEE SWAMP.
OASIS WHERE THE SEMINOLE CHIEF
TOOK REFUGE IN 1886.
Account of q Tramp Through the Swamp.
A Little Noss-CIad Island in the
Marsh-stuck in a Ouagmire-An Ex-
hausted Party.


hausted Party.
Okefenokee, the great swamp on the
southern border of Georgia, extending across
into Florida, has for century been a mys-
terry IL was the great retreat for the Semi
mole Indians. In the center of this immense
swamp is an oasis, a beautiful spot midway
between BeIIy's island and the Roddenburg
settlement. 1t was in this spot that Billy
Bowlegs, the great Seminole, took refuge in
1886 and successfully defied the attempts of
the whites To capture him. Strange tales
are told in the neighborhoOd Of fugitives
finding safety there who subsiSted on the
abundance of fish and game The story of
an authenticated exploration of this spot is
told by Mr.. Charles Pendleton, who in COM
pany with Ben Marlborough, local scout,
and others penetrated the thick jungle which
leads to it, His story runs thus:
Camp Casena,' as our party christened
it, a dry knoll covering about an acre
in the midst of a marsh extending for miles,
apparently north and south, and several
miles east and west. 1t was nearer as 1T
turned out, to the eastern swampwood than
to the western. Its center was perhaps eight
feet above the level Of the surrounding
marsh and il tapered off TO the water edge.
A dwarfed cypress which capped its summit
was Immediately surrounded by smaller ones,
like courtiers around prince; and next to
these widening the circle, came the smaller
casenas, like those of lesser rank Then the
gallberry and tyty tapered To the earth,
forming the outer guard, armed with bamboo
and shield I'll by creeping vines. The
phalanx so solid, the armament SO per
feet that no man or beast could penetrate it
save by a hidden path which perhaps nature
had left for an ingress and egrt-ss TO the
fauna of that region; or, more likely, the
more powerful bear had broken through to
find lair. The whole from the topmost
cypress bough to the least tyty was draped
with gray moss mingling with the nut brown
leaves of autumn, the myriads of crimson
casena berries and the evergreen tyty-pre-
senting picturesque cone perhaps nowhere
else seen. The marsh surrounding this queer
spot varies in water depth from three inches
20 four feet Underneath the water the mud
varies in solubility, some places being
eremely soft and dangerous TO the pedestrian.
But for bonnet roots and the thicker growth
of maiden cane no man could cross it. The
wonder is that anything but a webfOOt ever
did
Our party did cut their way through tyty,
bamboo and what not for three days prior
to the morning of entering the marsh, and
at first it was somewhat of Il relief to be able
to trudge forward with long view ahead
w-thout having to fight and dodge through
the entangled mass of underground. The
change brought rested muscles into action,
and for a few hours We moved forward with
greater rapidity than at any time since enter
ing the swamp. The compass pointed the
way, and that brave band of explorers
never hesitated when one sank to his arnpits
and had to be pulled out by his fellows-the
civil engineers chain often serving for that
extra use-nOr did they turn back when it
became necessary to detour around an coca
sional alligator hole, distinguished by pair
or more of those huge amphibiuus creatures
circling the dark water with their young.
But the strain on the muscle of the lower
limbs never relaxed. We could not sit down
and rest. About noon the men began to
show signs of unusual fatigue. The dark
swampwoOd, such As We had been in for
three days, could be seen distinctly ahead,
but il was quite as far or further than we
had tramped that morning, and the outlook
was not at all cheering. Some distance short
of that now coveted region a gray object
doomed up before our visiOn-right on our
line-and we rightly OWNED that it was a
little moss clad island i'll the marsh. We
must reach it at all hazards before night.
We halted for lunch-hard tack and bacon
but there was no place, stated above. TO
sit down and rest the weary feet One poor
fellow found a banner root near the surface
of the water, which he sat upon to crush il
and sink in the mud and water up to his
spirits never tagged, no matter how sore his
feet were, sang out: Push along, boys; keep
moving. Let's eat when We reach yonder
island" But DIR. Little, the geOlogist,
who with the party, insisted that
should stop, if only for few minutes and
eat, for it would give Us strength for the
afternoons tramp. The wisdom of his sug
gestion was at once seen by all, and we ate
hurriedly from the scanty store in our packs,
continually shifting the ySpiUht rpu M fo.Ar
to the other, and often moving the re
leased foot To prevent its sinking too deep
into the mui. 1t was not a feast of the
gods.
We pressed on with hope and fear We
thought we could reach the little island as
it seemed to us, by nightfall if no lake
impossible water lay on our route; and who
could tell what was ahead in that despicable
bog; The thought of encountering a deep
lake was not at all pleasant. The day quite
gone, possibly, and not dry tussock within
eight or ten hours tramp. No place To sit
or lie, much less To sleep, ON chill NOvem-
Der night No torch; no lantern; the com
pass in our hands would fail to keep US from
wandering round and round in the darkness
and gloom and mud most men do, it is
said, until daylight. If human endurance
could stand the strain until them 1t Is not
pleasant to think about the possible situation
afterward.
About in the afternoon few drifting
clouds, apparently thrown together just over
in front of US by counter currents of air,
brought forth a light shower. and the declin-
ing sun at our backs produced beautiful
rainbow which SPAWNED directly across our
route eastward. 1t was an unusual sight for
the time of year. When We at last APP
preached within hundred yards of the little
oasis above described, We encountered the
severest quagmire we had Yet seen. All
along we had been measuring the distance
travelled with a chain, that instrument being
handled by couple of negroes. Here there
were several applicants anxious TO relieve
the boys, knowing that it would add To ones
safety to have hold of a chain with a man
at the other end DR.. Little was the first
victim. He went down to the armpits and
struggled desperately TO extricate himself,